TRIBUTES TO MR COATES

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23962, 1 June 1943, Page 4

TRIBUTES TO MR COATES

THOUSANDS PAY LAST RESPECTS IMPRESSIVE SCENES AT AUCKLAND (P.A.) AUCKLAND. May 31. Auckland citizens paid their last respects to the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates today when great numbers filed past the coffin as the body lay in state in St. Mary’s Cathedral. The coffin was received at the railway station early by a military party, placed on a motorised guncarriage, and taken to the cathedral, where it was received by Dean Fancourt. Military bearers carried the coffin into the cathedral, where it was placed on a bier before the altar, and a military guard was mounted. Deep emotion was shown by many who paid their last respects. At 9.30 a.m. a large party of Maoris arrived, carrying a traditional taua of green twigs. Eulogies of Mr Coates, who was a staunch friend of the Maoris, were recited in the Maori language, and a prolonged Maori ceremonial of mourning was conducted inside the cathedral. An address in Maori was delivered, to which the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser) replied in English. The lying in state continued until the memorial service for citizens commenced this afternoon. Before noon many country people had arrived in Auckland to take part in the city’s mourning. There was a great display of wreaths at the Town Hall during the day from the services and all sections of the community. Thousands of people who had come to pay their last respects to Mr Coates lined the whole of the long route from St. Mary’s Cathedral to the railway station. From Parnell road to Khyber Pass road, the cortege passed through almost continuous lines on both sides, with a larger group clustered at every intersection. The same scene was repeated in Symonds street, and in Karangahape road. Down Queen street, from the top to the foot, the line of people on either footpath was unbroken. Many of those who watched were from shops and offices, which had closed at the mayor’s request as a mark of respect to Mr Coates. Tram and motor traffic had been diverted to other routes, and the procession moved slowly down the middle of the otherwise deserted roadway. For a better view, many climbed to verandas and the roofs of shops. Nowhere was the scene more impres. sive than in the closing tributes at the railway station. The guncarriage and the official cars drew up in a loop of the roadway fronting the lawns, while the remainder of the procession passed by in a last salute, flanked by the Ministerial pall-bearers, and followed by the service pall-bearers, the Governor-General’s representative, relatives, and representatives of the armed forces. The coffin was then taken at the slow march up the rampart into the station, from where it will be taken for burial at Matakohe to-morrow.

SPIRIT OF SERVICE

CHARACTERISTIC OF MR COATES (P.A.) AUCKLAND. May 31. The measure of Mr Coates’s greatness lay not so much in his capacity to lord it over others, as in his willingness to serve, said Archdeacon Cowie in an address at the memorial service in St. Mary’s Cathedral, this afternoon. The spirit of service was characteristic of Mr Coates, who gave unstintingly of his time and energies in grappling with the baffling problems of the slump years. During that time he developed an amazing courtesy, and patience, and readiness to help ordinary people. Archdeacon Cowie added that Mr Coates was a man of great courage, and those who served him in France would all bear testimony to this. Later he faced angry crowds with the same courage and fairness. He possessed an even higher kind of courage, namely moral courage. Ample example of that was given recently, when even some of his admirers were puzzled by his course of action, but he had made up 'his mind that nothing would interfere with the part he would play in the conduct of the war. He devoted himself to the task, and could not possibly explain during war time the reasons for his action. He was a great democrat, serving without stint, and practised strong self-discipline. It was his unerring spirit of discipline which enabled him to meet with consideration those politically opposed to him. Archdeacon Cowie urged people to do all in their power to rid political life of the poison of irresponsible criticism and unbalanced defamation of character, and to endeavour to implant a spirit of sportsmanship in political dealings, which was so strong a charac. teristic of Mr Coates.

MESSAGE FROM MR CURTIN

REGRET OF AUSTRALIANS EXPRESSED (P.A.) WELLINGTON, May 31. “My colleagues and I wish to convey an expression of our deepest sympathy to the relatives, to you, and members of the New Zealand Parliament in the tragically sudden passing of Mr Coates," states the Prime Minister of Australia (Mr Curtin) in a message to the Pfime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser). "You will recall entrusting Mr Coates with special war missions to the Commonwealth, during the discharge of which he attended meetings of the Australian War Advisory Council, and had vital consultations with members of the Government,” continued Mr Curtin. "The many friends he made in this country are much saddened by his unexpected death. New Zealand has lost a distinguished citizen and a great parliamentarian who, over a long period of years, contributed service of enduring value to his country and to the Empire.” MR CORDELL HULL’S MESSAGE (P.A.) WELLINGTON, May 31. The following message has been received by the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser): “I have received with great sorrow the news of the death of a former Prime Minister, Mr Coates, and desire to* express my deepest sympathy to you and the Government of New Zealand. The loss of this distinguished statesman, whom I came to know and admire in the course of his visits to Washington, will be keenly felt at a moment in which the world so sorely needs outstanding leaders. —Cordell Hull. U.S. Secretary of State." Communist Party’s Sympathy.—A letter expressing regret at the death of the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates has been sent to the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser) by the Canterbury District Committee of the Communist Party. “Mr Coates has earned the respect of the whole country,” states the letter, “for the way in which he put aside all the political differences of the past, and threw himself into his own special war job, which he had carried out with distinction. His loss will be a serious one at a time when the country can ill afford to lose a man who combined ability and experience with a supreme desire to see the war brought to a'victorious conclusion.” Admiration for the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates as a soldier and as a servant of the nation was expressed by the Christchurch executive of the Returned Services’ Association last evening. A (notion of sympathy with Mr Coates’s relatives was carried.